Jules was now on pins and needles. There was no way to know what her father would do as alpha. If he thought for a minute that Tyler or Ben were a threat to his control of the pack, he’d not hesitate to attack them. With the rumours that Hollow Wood Pack members were inquiring about leaving the pack for another. She feared he’d try to punish people or start a war. Rose’s father was dead, and the story was unbelievable. Which leant itself to making the speculation of what truly happened more believable. Her father, hunters, or now missing lover killed him. Those were the current rumours. Jules believed the first rumour. Her father would have the stomach and the greed to do it. The only thing she wondered about was why he didn’t do it before this? He could have done it many times before. His loyalty was never in question before this incident. Or was it an event? Jules couldn’t put her finger on why things weren’t adding up or how. But nothing for her looked good. She now w
Ty’s phone rang unexpectedly the morning after finding out about Russell’s death and the large number of wolves discreetly looking for new homes. As it stood, there was no way he could accept all of them. Not without a miracle. Now, his phone rang with the call he’d been waiting for. “Hello Tyler Randell speaking.” “Tyler my boy. How are you? I just got your message. Where are you and what is going on? Are you back in the old town?”It was the professor returning his call. A little late for Russell, but what about Jack? Would he spiral like Russell did? Or was he just natural like this? “I’m back in town. That’s why I called you. My mate and I were talking about the situation here. She made an interesting comment that struck an old memory. It’s a little vague, but because of circumstances here I can’t look through any notes. You were there and might remember.” Ty knew this was a long shot, however it was a shot. “Well, I’m in a secure location right
Jack Davidson sat behind the enormous desk in the office of the Hollow Wood Packhouse. He’d given them a day to clean up the mess Russell made when he died here not a day ago. Bloody fool wasn’t careful with anything in his life. He’d had power because he used people to get it. It didn’t matter how he got the power, but he got what he wanted at whatever price other people could pay. Well, payback was a killer. Jack laughed at his little joke. He’d bided his time, and someone took Russell out for him. He’d thank them if he knew who did it. But here he was with his own pack, and he didn’t have to lift a finger to do it. But the kid had a claim on this, which meant he had to go one way or another. If he hadn’t been the pup of the alpha before Russell, he’d have a claim through that stupid twat Rose, Russell’s daughter. Jack wasn’t stupid. Getting to Tyler wouldn’t be easy. The fool had friends around him all the time. They guarded his current territory like Fort Knox.
Tyler watched again the third times in as many weeks as the townsfolk of Mayes Grove snuck into the town hall meeting room and settled into the chairs laid out. This was his fault for coming back, that caused these people to assemble here yet again. He was the catalyst for this change. Yes, the change was desperately needed. But no one here was blaming Ty for things going south as they had. Two shifters were missing in the community. Lone shifters who weren’t connected to packs, dens, or the like. This concerned her. As was the interest in leaving the largest pack in the local region, they well represented the Hollow Wood Pack to night. Though their leaders were not in attendance. They were not informed of this meeting because the Hollow Wood Pack members wished to leave, feared retaliation if they discovered their identities. Ty couldn’t fault them on that. They needed some assurance that things could get better. They just needed to find a place for them t
Rose watched the things play out from the far corner of the town hall meeting room as the room went from stunned silence to erupting in anger. How could Tyler stand there and claim to work for the council? Why has he not done something about her father? The hunters? Anything that must be dealt with here? They’d been here almost a month now. She’d give him that, at least. But the look of Alpha Higgins’ face he was blindsided by this information. Was it that much of a secret Ty couldn’t tell his uncle? “Alright everyone. The council sent us in because no one would think to tie us to the investigation of the hunters. We could look for ties to the community that led back to the hunters. That, ladies and gentlemen, was none other than the Hollow Wood Pack alpha and we believe the beta. They betrayed their people and their community. For this, they will not recognize the pack. Wait. Now I have been struggling to build the Shadow Pack into a stable entity here. There’s not
Rose was worried. Everything was quiet. Too quiet, but now the pack wasn’t going around behind her back with reports and such to Ty and Ben. She could see them all relaxing because of it. She didn’t think they were comfortable keeping secrets from people they liked and they loved the girls. Many were nice to them and it wasn’t to score points. Everyone was treated well, as far as Rose could see. Now she’d have to have a heart-to-heart with her mate. What other secrets did he have hidden away in some dark corner? When they got back to the packhouse, they had several new arrivals. Thank heavens there were other pack to settle them for the night. People would start seriously leaving the Hollow Wood Pack in the morning. Rose didn’t know if she’d sleep again until she knew what the fallout of that would be. The pack here was safe, but she knew the Hollow Wood members and loved many of them. Most weren’t the scum her father appeared to collect around him. Those he found
Jules lay beside Ben, unsure now of who lay there. Had her brain warned her he was a lying jerk? How could she trust him now? Was he really her mate? Or was that a lie, too? “This isn’t good.” Ben said from beside her. “What isn’t good?” Jules asked. “You’re silent. Which means we aren’t sleeping until we hash this out between us. So let’s have it. What’s the bug in your ear now?” “Bug in my ear? Ew. No, it’s not a bug in my ear. It’s a questionable mate in my bed. So, tell me again and this time make me believe we’re actually mates and not your plan to screw over my pack for some hidden agenda.” “Babes, you had me at, ‘hey, stud want to play hide the pickle with me?’ Your sweet innocent smile and that smutty invitation had me ready, willing, and able. Gods, even now I think of the word pickle, and I just want to dive into you until we’re too exhausted to move.” “So you like me because I’m a slut.” “I love you because you are my
Heather awoke to a cellphone going off. It wasn’t loud, but just enough. Before this, Mike or Jay would just disappear into the night and be back by morning. The other would distract her and not tell her what was going on. She’d get a pack coming to her looking for ‘training accidents.’ They’d been clearly fighting, and they expected her to heal them. No questions asked. That’s what each man asked for after giving a vague explanation of what happened. It frustrated Heather, writing information like ‘zigged when he should have zagged’ as an explanation of their injuries. One guy, named Lucas, was very unhappy that she was recording any information at all. Mike now lay there, listening to whoever was on the other end of the phone call. How these men actually communicated, she would never understand. Mike hadn’t said a single word, just grunted a few times and then hung up. “What was that?” She asked him. Curiosity getting the better of her. “Work. Can